Blind Love
by Adara Lyena
Summary: A yaoi fic involving Seifer and Squall. On an assignment for his father, Squall finds Seifer and must learn how to deal with the new Seifer and his own chaotic emtions.
1. Searching

Rating: PG 13 (so far)  
Main Pairing: Seifer/Squall  
Status: Incomplete, unbetaed  
Warnings: some violence and bad language  
happy ending eventually  
Summary: Another get together story. Squall is searching  
for a missing Seifer and finds him unexpectedly.  
He then must deal with the new Seifer and his own rather  
chaotic emotions.

  
Blind Love  
Part 1  
  
Squall walked slowly across the empty desert, eyes sweeping the landscape for approaching monsters. So far he had only encountered a couple, although he knew there were more out there since it had not been long since the lunar cry. He was not overly worried though; he was now quite capable of handling the monsters that invested the Esthar plains, whereas previously he had needed at least two companions in order to defeat the creatures.  
  
Squall had been traveling towards the southeast coast of the Esthar continent for several days now. He discovered that he enjoyed traveling alone; it meant that he did not have to worry about the safety of his friends and that he had to rely solely upon his own resourcefulness. It also gave him time to think, to sort through and try to understand his current feelings and problems  
  
He was particularly preoccupied with his situation with Rinoa. It was clear that everyone, especially Rinoa, thought that the two of them were a couple, particularly because everyone had witnessed their first kiss on the balcony near Balamb's ballroom. He had let everyone think that and he had even played the role of the loyal boyfriend, believing at the time that it was what he wanted.  
  
Yet, not even a week had gone by since that first kiss before Squall had already begun to feel uncomfortable with his relationship with Rinoa. While he cared for Rinoa deeply and knew she cared for him, she kept trying to force him to change. She wanted him to go to all these social functions, to go out on the weekends, to talk and make friends with everyone; she basically wanted him to be a social butterfly like herself.  
  
While Squall had opened up to his close friends, he did not want to expand upon his social network. Rinoa seemed unable to accept the fact that he was a naturally quiet and solitary person; instead, she was trying to force him to fit her idea of the perfect boyfriend, something he was unable to do.  
  
Frustrated with Rinoa's inability to accept him as he was, he had decided a few days ago to called in on some vacation time in order to visit his father in Esthar City. While having a father still seemed like a rather novel idea, Squall wanted to get to know Laguna better. Squall really admired Laguna's dedication and loyalty to Esthar. Squall also enjoyed the older man's jovial and outgoing personality; it reminded him of Seifer.  
  
Squall stopped walking and stared at the ground as he wondered where that last thought had come from. The two men were so completely different; yet, they did both have very noticeable and very loud personalities. Maybe that was why Squall had thought of Seifer while thinking about his father.  
  
Squall sighed, knowing that was not the reason why he had thought of Seifer. He had been thinking about the blonde a lot lately; Squall was worried about him. There had been no trace of Seifer after time compression had ended. Squall had hoped that Gilgamesh had not killed Seifer but just knocked him out. However, Squall was beginning to lose hope as Seifer continued to remain missing.  
  
Squall had at first been extremely surprised to find himself worrying about his rival. He could not believe that he actually missed that arrogant bully and that he actually wanted to see Seifer, wanted him to come back to Garden. Squall finally realized it was because Seifer had always been around him; Seifer had been a part of Squall's life for as long as he could remember. Even though things had not always been pleasant between them, Seifer was still his childhood friend, his classmate, his sparring partner. Squall could not even begin to imagine his life without Seifer. At first he had thought Rinoa could take Seifer's place but soon realized that was not possible. Seifer respected him and accepted Squall just the way he was, something Rinoa could not do.  
  
Squall shook his head, realizing he had been standing still and staring at the ground for several minutes while thinking about Seifer. Squall figured he needed to stop thinking about Seifer or else he would get extremely worried, which usually made him get depressed.  
  
Squall decided to just focus on reaching his destination. He was heading towards a small village on the southeast coast of the continent. Someone had reported to his father that the villagers were holding someone prisoner without following the proper judicial procedures. There were also rumors that the prisoner was being treated unfairly. Laguna, keen on preserving peace and justice within his nation, had naturally become extremely worried and upset by the report. So, Squall had offered to check out the situation, hoping that relieve his father of some stress and worry that he constantly suffered from. Laguna was of course ecstatic when Squall made his offer, even willing to give Squall several thousand gil for the job. Squall had adamantly refused to be paid since he had also offered his services as an excuse to get out into the Esthar countryside and search for any traces of Seifer. Esthar was the last place Seifer had been seen alive, so Squall reasoned that this would be the best place to start looking for him. Unfortunately, Squall had found no clues thus far as to what had happened to Seifer.  
  
Squall hoped that the villagers he would soon be meeting with would have seen or heard something concerning Seifer. With this thought in mind, Squall picked up his pace a bit, hoping to get to the village before the sun set.  
  
Squall walked on for several hours, watching the sun make its steady journey towards the horizon. His journey was relatively uneventful. Monsters helped to break the monotony of traveling alone and only a few Marlboros had given him anything close to a challenge.  
  
As the sun began to disappear over the horizon, Squall noticed the fading sunlight glinting off of something ahead of him. Obviously something made of metal; yet, Squall wondered how a piece of metal could come to be in such a barren place as the Esthar plains. Squall quickly approached the thing lying on the ground, his curiosity getting the better of him.  
  
As Squall knelt down and examined the object he felt his heart stop and his throat constrict as he realized what he was looking at...  
  
Hyperion.  
  
Squall stared dumbly at the weapon in front of him, his mind unable to register what his eyes were showing him. Squall could not quite believe that he was looking at Hyperion, it seems impossible that the weapon would be out here on the empty plains of Esthar. Yet, Squall was absolutely positive that it was Hyperion, he knew it almost as well as his own gunblade.  
  
Knowing that Seifer would never willingly leave his gunblade, Squall quickly scanned the land around him. When he did not see anyone, Squall quickly got up and searched the ground surrounding the weapon for any clues that would tell him where Seifer was. Unfortunately, Squall was unable to find anything, not even footprints, which suggested to him that the gunblade had been lying there for quite some time.  
  
Squall returned to where Hyperion was lying and picked it up. He then pulled some rope from his backpack, tied it around the hilt of the weapon and then tied the end of the rope to his backpack, allowing him to carrying Hyperion. It was rather awkward but he was glad his father had insisted that Squall bring some rope with him, just in case. Now Squall would be able to return Hyperion to Seifer, something he was very determined to do.  
  
Yet, Squall was at a loss as to where to look for Seifer. After several moments of consideration, Squall finally decided to just continue on towards the town, hoping that the people there would know the whereabouts of Seifer.  
  
  
End Part 1  
  
  



	2. Arrival

  
Blind Love  
Part 2  
  
Squall resumed his journey, walking at a brisk pace that he hoped would get him to his destination before it was completely dark.  
  
After traveling for another hour, Squall finally reached the tiny village situated near the ocean. Squall debated whether he should camp out for the night or brave the inn. He finally decided that he was too tired to set up camp and was more than willing to cope with dirt and bed bugs so long as he had something soft to sleep on.  
  
Squall entered the village, noting that it consisted of only a main street and a few side streets with no more than two dozen buildings. The inn was the first building on his left and upon entering Squall found the innkeeper asleep behind the counter.  
  
Squall marched up to the counter and rapped on it loudly. The old man woke with a start, muttering and grumbling under his breath as he struggled to stand. Once standing, the old man finally got a good look at Squall, which caused the man to gap and stare at him. Squall shifted uncomfortably; he still had not gotten used to people knowing who he was. He did not particularly care for the whole famous because-he-saved-the-world thing. He had always hoped to live a rather low-key life as a normal SeeD but that was impossible now.  
  
"I would like a room," Squall said impatiently after several moments of silence.  
  
The old man snapped out of his daze, saying, "Yes, yes, of course Mr. Leonhart. I will have our best room readied for you."  
  
"How much?"  
  
"Oh no, that won't be necessary, sir."  
  
Squall lifted an eyebrow as he glanced around at the rather shabby room. Squall then pulled out a hundred gil and slapped it on the counter; he was too tired to argue.  
  
"Show me were the room is."  
  
"Thank you so much, Commander," the old man said with a small bow. "You're generosity and beneficence are truly remarkable. Why, without your help..."  
  
"Yes, yes, " Squall interrupted the man with a wave of his hand, he had heard it all before. "The room?"  
  
"Oh yes, of course. Forgive me, sir. Please follow me."  
  
Squall trailed along behind the man to his room, noting that it was on the first floor of the building and that even though it looked rather rundown, it was clean, which was all he cared about.  
  
As the old man left the room he said, "I will let the mayor know you are here, if you like, Commander."  
  
"Yes, thank you, I would appreciate it," Squall replied.   
  
Once the old man had left, Squall placed the two gunblades near the bed, then dropped his backpack and flopped down onto the bed. Squall could not believe how tired he was; yet, he had not gotten much exercise during the past few weeks because he had been relaxing after the end of the war, so he supposed it was to be expected that he was a little out of shape.  
  
Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Squall suddenly sat up with a groan, remembering that his dad had wanted him to call when he arrived so that Laguna would know he was safe.  
  
What a pain Squall thought as he fished around in his pack for his cell phone. Yet, he supposed it was all part of having a parent, so he was not going to complain too much.  
  
He called his father's private number and the phone was answered halfway through the first ring.  
  
"Squall?"  
  
"Yeah, it's me."  
  
Squall heard Laguna sigh through the phone while saying, "Good, I was getting worried."  
  
"It's not that late, dad."  
  
"Yeah, well, you never know what could happen with you traveling alone."  
  
Squall smiled, it was rather nice to have someone care about him so much.  
  
"I'm going to see the mayor tomorrow morning, so I'll try to find out what's going on here."  
  
"Good, let me know when you find out. You should go to sleep now, so I won't keep you. I'll talk to you later. I love you."  
  
Squall paused briefly before saying, "You too. Bye."  
  
As Squall turned off the phone he kind of wished he had said 'I love you' back to his father. Even though having a father was still pretty new to him, he was relatively sure that he loved his dad; plus, it would have made Laguna happy if he had said it.  
  
Oh well, maybe next time Squall thought as he laid back down on the bed.  
  
Squall then realized that he had not even changed his clothes or brushed his teeth yet. Squall growled in frustration as he got up and quickly got ready for bed. Finally, Squall was ready to go to sleep. As he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was that hopefully tomorrow he would gain more information concerning the whereabouts of Seifer.  
  
End part 2  
  
-I know, rather short and boring. Don't worry though, things start happening in part 3, like Seifer showing up! :)  



	3. Found

  
  
Blind Love  
Part 3  
  
The next morning, Squall was rudely awakened by a loud knock on the door. He stared at the door hard, as if it was the door's fault, and not the person on the other side, for waking him up. The knock sounded a second time.  
  
"What?" Squall shouted angrily.  
  
"Forgive me, Commander, but I thought you might like some breakfast and have brought you some," answered a voice that sounded like it belonged to an old woman.  
  
"All right, come in," Squall said as he sat up in bed.  
  
An old woman entered, carrying a tray overladen with food. She stopped walking abruptly and gaped at Squall. Squall smirked slightly, realizing he probably made quite a sight, clad only in black boxer briefs and with his usual bed head It was unlikely that the old woman saw such a sight everyday, so Squall excused her astonishment. Squall got out of bed and walked over to the small table near the window and sprawled out in the chair, purposely trying to look wanton. Squall smirked as the woman continued to stare at him. He was only trying to be helpful, he could not imagine her life was all that exciting and seeing the man who saved the world almost completely naked would give her something to talk about for the rest of her days. (1)  
  
After the old woman left, Squall started eating and realized that maybe there were some benefits to being famous, it got him decent breakfast. Once he finished, Squall quickly showered and did his other various morning routines. Once ready, Squall briefly considered taking his gunblade but eventually decided against it for he did not want to intimidate anyone. As he exited the room, Squall left some gil on the breakfast tray for the old woman's troubles.  
  
Upon immediately leaving his room, Squall ran into the innkeeper, who seemed unusually cheerful.  
  
"If you'll follow me please, Commander, I'll take you to see the Mayor."  
  
"Thank you," Squall said as he followed the old man out of the inn.  
  
As Squall stepped out onto the street, he found himself surrounded by dozens of people, probably the entire town, all babbling excitedly. Squall stopped walking with a sigh, remembering again how much he hated being famous. Confronted with a wall of people, Squall was forced to sign autographs and let people (especially the young women) touch him and shake his hand. Finally, Squall was able to break through the crowd, which allowed him to find the innkeeper and head off towards the mayor's house, with the entire town trailing along behind him.  
  
As they approached the mayor's house, a very large man stepped out onto the porch. Squall tried not to gap at the man, who he assumed was the mayor, that stood before him. At least six and half feet tall, the man's clothes looked like they were about to burst at the seams because the man's muscles were so large. Squall had never felt intimidated by a person's mere presence, not even by Seifer; yet, standing in front of this man made him feel like a helpless child. He probably looked like a child to this man since he was a measly 5'8" and very skinny. Squall realized that he was not going to be able to force answers out of this guy if he proved to be uncooperative, especially since he did not bring his gunblade with him. Squall really wished he had brought it with him, instead of leaving it back at the inn.  
  
"So, you're Squall Leonhart, the boy who saved the world, huh?" the Mayor said with a chuckle while sizing Squall up.  
  
Squall refused to show that he was intimidated so he walked right up to the man and said, "I am a representative of President Laguna and am here on a matter of urgent business. I would like to request a private audience with you."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know why you're here," the man said with a wave of his arm.  
  
Squall could tell that dealing with this man was going to be just as difficult as dealing with the mayor of FH had been. Maybe it was something about being a mayor that made a person so difficult to deal with.  
  
"Well, come on in then," the Mayor said as he walked back into his house. "Oh yeah, by the way, my name is Ted McPherson, just call me Ted."  
  
Squall resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man's unprofessional behavior.  
  
Once they were settled inside and away from the prying eyes and curious ears of the townspeople, Squall immediately got down to business.  
  
"It has come to the President's attention that you have unlawfully detained a man and have not been taking proper care of your prisoner."  
  
Before Squall could say anything else, McPherson interrupted him with a loud snort while saying, "My prisoner doesn't deserve any proper treatment or a trial. Why that little son of a bitch is lucky I haven't killed him yet."  
  
Squall felt his temper start to rise with every word the man said. Ever since he had learned to open up and share his feelings with others, ever since he began to be consciously aware of and respect the feelings of others, he found that he could not tolerate such people as McPherson, who showed neither sympathy nor compassion. Even if this prisoner was truly guilty, Squall felt that a person should never be treated with pure, unadulterated hatred.   
  
Trying to calm his temper, Squall took a few deep breaths before saying, "Every person has a right to a trial and humane treatment, no matter what crimes they may have committed. President Laguna has given me the authority to remove the prisoner from your care and take him to Esthar where he will be given a proper trial in a court of law. And believe me, Mr. McPherson, I intend to do exactly that no matter what you may say about it."  
  
Squall realized he probably should not have said that last bit for it certainly would not help him in any way but at this point he was so angry that he was not thinking clearly.  
  
McPherson laughed loudly as he said, "Boy, once you find out who I've got hidden away, you're gonna want to get that sharp stick of yours and skewer him with it!" The mayor paused to gauge Squall's reaction and upon seeing Squall's confused look he said, "Just out back here in an underground shelter, I've got the Sorceress' Knight!" He stopped talking and crossed his arms over his chest, looking extremely self-satisfied.  
  
Squall caught his breath; he could not believe it! Seifer was here, only a few steps away. Squall never imagined that he would get this lucky, that it would be this easy to find Seifer. Then Squall finally realized that Seifer was the one who these people were treating unfairly. Squall felt his chest tighten as all sorts of unwanted thoughts came to him about what these people might have done to Seifer. Knowing that there was a general contempt and hatred for Seifer, even though there had been an official statement made concerning Seifer's forced participation in the Sorceress Wars, Squall knew that Seifer was likely to have suffered a lot at the hands of the unsympathetic man in front of him.  
  
Squall tried not to let his concern for Seifer show though; the Mayor clearly expected him to hate Seifer and Squall figured that it would be better for the time being to play along with that idea.  
  
"I wish to see him," Squall finally said in what he hoped was a calm, steady voice.  
  
"Of course," McPherson said with a smirk as he stood up and headed out the backdoor.  
  
As Squall followed him, he tried to calm himself; yet, he could not help feeling nervous and even perhaps a little afraid at what he was going to find in the shelter.  
  
The two men crossed the mayor's backyard over to a large wooden door set into the side of a small hill. The mayor took a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Taking a lantern that was hanging just inside the door, McPherson started down a flight of stairs that took the two men several feet underground. Squall shivered in the cold, damp air, feeling like he was walking into a crypt as they headed down a long hallway.  
  
"Hey, you little piece of shit, ya got a visitor," McPherson yelled with a loud, nasty laugh as he entered the small chamber at the end of the hallway.  
  
Squall tried to see Seifer but being behind McPherson meant the man's large body blocked his view of the small room. The mayor finally moved, walking over to the side of the room and thus allowing Squall his first glimpse of Seifer.  
  
Squall could not restrain the small gasp that escaped him as he looked upon Seifer. The blonde was clothed in only a pair of tattered black pants, which allowed Squall an unobstructed view of the multiple lash marks that covered Seifer's back, as well as the bruises and dried blood that covered his arms and face.  
  
Squall felt an almost unbearable urge to run to Seifer, to touch him, to shake him, anything to get some kind of response out of the frail, motionless body. Squall wanted Seifer to open his eyes and look at him, so Squall could tell him that everything was going to be all right, that Squall was not going to stand for anyone hurting someone he had known his entire life.  
  
Squall's thoughts were interrupted when McPherson walked over to Seifer and kicked him in the side. This caused an immediate response in Seifer; he groaned weakly and started coughing up blood as he curled up protectively. It took all of Squall's willpower to restrain himself and not attack the mayor. If McPherson found out that Squall did not hate Seifer but instead intended to help Seifer, Squall was positive that the mayor would not hesitate to kill Seifer and there was no way Squall could defend Seifer against such a huge man unarmed.  
  
McPherson suddenly grabbed Seifer by the hair and pulled him up onto his knees while shaking him violently and saying "You're finally going to get what you deserve, you bastard, now that the Commander is here."  
  
Squall saw Seifer flinch when McPherson said 'Commander'. Squall desperately wished he could reassure Seifer that he was not going to hurt him; that he actually planned on helping Seifer. If only he could get rid of the mayor...  
  
"Well, I'll be leaving you two alone now. I'm sure you have a lot catching up to do," McPherson said with an evil smirk as he let Seifer fall back to the ground.  
  
Squall felt his chest tighten painfully as he watched Seifer curl up into a small, protective ball again.  
  
As McPherson started to leave, he said "You just go ahead and do whatever you want to him, boy. If there should be an....unfortunate....incident, well, that'll just be between you and me." McPherson paused briefly before laughing loudly and saying "We'll just say he attacked you and call it self-defense. That'll be a fine joke between you and me since no one else knows that he's blind."  
  
That said, McPherson disappeared down the dark tunnel and left Squall with Seifer.  


End part 3   
  
-Mmmwahhahahha such an evil place to stop at! :P  
  
1. I know this is rather OOC but I couldn't help it, it was fun to write :P  
  
  



	4. In Need of Rescuing

Warnings: Lots of OOC in this chapter I believe.

Blind Love

Part 4

                Squall blinked owlishly down the way McPherson had disappeared, his mind rather slow in processing what he had said.

                Blind? Squall practically shouted inside his head.

                This was incomprehensible.  Surely McPherson had to be lying; yet, the man really had no reason to say such a lie, so then it must be true!

                A weak groan sounded behind Squall, reminding him that he really should be helping Seifer.  Squall walked over and knelt down beside Seifer.  A gentle touch on the shoulder caused Seifer to whimper and jerk away from Squall's hand.  Squall felt his chest constrict painfully.  This was not how he wanted Seifer to react to him; he needed, wanted Seifer to trust him but how was such a thing to be accomplished when so many bad things had happened between them?  Yet, Squall was determined to earn Seifer's trust.

                "Seifer?"

                No response.

                "Seifer, please."

                Still nothing.

                "Seifer, I'm here to help you."

                A small movement, a recognition perhaps, that Squall was there.

                "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear.  I'm going to get you out of here," Squall said while trying to remain calm.

                A low groan reached Squall's ears and he saw Seifer's lips move but did not hear him say anything.

                "What?" Squall asked as he leaned down closer to Seifer.

                "No," came a hoarse response.  "Leave me."

                Leave him?  Squall wondered in shock.  That, of course, made no sense whatsoever and Squall had no intention of obeying it.  How could he possibly leave Seifer when he needed Squall's help so badly?  There was no way Squall could ever abandon someone he cared about so much, not after knowing personally how it felt to be abandoned.

                "No.  I'm not going to leave you here to suffer.  I'll think of a way to get you out safely."

                "Why?" was the quiet response.

                "Because, this is so wrong, what they are doing to you.  They don't have the right to and I won't let it continue!"

                "Have every right."

                "No!  They don't!  This is inhumane, the way they are treating you.  No one deserves to be treated this way, especially you; you've gone through so much already."

                "Squall…" Seifer whispered while groping helplessly for Squall.

                Grabbing Seifer's hand and clutching it to his chest, Squall said, "I'm going to make everything better.  I'll get you out of here.  I promise.  I won't abandon you, I swear.  OK, Seifer?  Just hang on for a little while longer.  Can you do that?"

                "Maybe…"

                "You have to, Seifer!  I know you can; you've always been so damn stubborn.  Please?  For me?"

                "I'll try…for you."

                "All right.  Here's what I'm going to do.  I'll come get you later tonight, sneak in here somehow; it shouldn't be too difficult.  Then, we'll just try to get as far away from this god-awful place as possible.  After that, I dunno, I'll think of something though.  I won't be able to help you much today, won't be able to heal you or get you food and water.  McPherson expects me to hate you and I played along with it.  I'll keep playing along so he doesn't suspect anything.  All right?  You going to be OK until tonight?"

                "I'll manage."

                "Good.  I should go.  I'll be back later tonight."

                "Promise?" Seifer said, a bit desperately, while squeezing Squall's hand tightly.

                "Promise.  I could never abandon someone I care about."

                This earned Squall a weak smile, which was very satisfying for he had not expected to get such a positive response from Seifer.  Reluctantly letting go of Seifer's hand, Squall stood and left.

                Walking back to McPherson's house, Squall could not help but feel terrible about having to leave Seifer in that awful place.  But what else could he do?  He knew he couldn't get Seifer out now with all the townspeople around.  There was no way he could fend off all those people as well as support Seifer.

                This thought reminded Squall of how physically battered and weak Seifer was.  It was truly shocking to see his once proud and strong rival reduced to such a state.  And the blindness…that was rather frightening.  Seifer was completely helpless and would be totally dependent upon Squall later that night.  That seemed almost unnatural.  Yet, Squall was determined not to fail, he would keep his promise to Seifer and get him to safety.

                Arriving back at McPherson's house, Squall took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself to deal with that horrible man.

                "Well, Squall, how's the little brat?  Did you rid me of that nuisance?"

                "No, I did not."

                "Pity.  Although, maybe it's not such a bad thing that you didn't get rid of him.  That boy needs to suffer more for what he did and I'm going to make sure he does.  Death is a mercy that he does not deserve."

                "Yes," was all Squall managed to say before turning his back to McPherson on the pretense of looking out the window but really he wanted to hide the emotions that would surely betray him.

                Why was it that so many people continued to blame Seifer?  Squall had lost count of the number of times he had told the press, his students, anyone, that Seifer was not at fault, that he had been controlled, used by the sorceresses.  Seifer may have been aggressive, loud and violent even before the wars but that did not mean he was heartless.  They had all been trained to be fighters, warriors; they all had that aggression and violence in them that Seifer had; they had all just been able to control it better than Seifer.  Unfortunately for Seifer, this lack of control meant that everyone saw the aggression, which now made it easier for people to blame Seifer for bringing evil upon them all.

                Seifer was not evil; he was not a terrible or heartless person like so many people claimed.  Yet, these people did not know the real Seifer, the one that hid behind the brash behavior.  Granted, Squall did not really know the real Seifer either.  But, he remembered seeing brief glimpses of the real Seifer.  There had been times during their schooldays when Squall had seen Seifer smiling and laughing with Raijin and Fujin.  He had seen Seifer help students in need, whether it was because of homework problems or because they were injured or being bothered by other students.  And, more recently, Squall was remembering those few precious moments at the orphanage when Seifer and him would play together.  When it had been just the two of them, Seifer was rarely loud or aggressive; he had actually been very easy going, kind and gentle.  Squall desperately wanted to have more of those moments with Seifer.  He just hoped that the recent events had not destroyed the part of Seifer that Squall wanted to see more of.  Maybe, once he got Seifer someplace safe, he would be able to rediscover the gentle side of Seifer and bring it out.

                "Hey, kid!  You still with me?"

                "Yes, sorry," Squall said, turning to look at McPherson, now much calmer after having remembered those childhood moments with Seifer.  "I was just thinking about all the things Seifer had done."

                "That little shit.  Every time I think about all the killing he did and all the suffering he caused, I just want to kill him."

                "What's stopping you?"

                "I get way too much enjoyment out of causing and seeing him suffer.  So, I hope you don't plan on taking him away from me soon, I might have to stop you."

                "Hmmm…I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet.  While I'm thinking about it, though, why don't you show me around your town and introduce me to you people.  I would like that very much."

                McPherson immediately jumped at the change to show off and brag about his town and all the wonderful people it.  This thankfully kept his mind off of Seifer, sparing Squall of his awful remarks about Seifer.  Unfortunately though, Squall was forced to spend many hours in the man's company, listening to how expensive the street and building were, how they made the best beer in the country, produced the most corn, owned the best tracks of shoreline and had the kindest, most generous people as neighbors.  By the end of the tour, Squall not only had a stronger urge to kill McPherson but he also wanted to burn the entire town and all its inhabitants to the ground.  Never had he seen a group of people more conceited, self-congratulating, ignorant, unforgiving and just plain annoying.  The only person he would even consider saving was the innkeeper's wife and that's only because she had been kind enough to bring him breakfast.

                Finally escaping McPherson a few hours before dinnertime, Squall all but stomped back to his room at the inn.  Slamming and locking the door behind him, Squall collapsed on the bed with a groan.  That had to have been the most grueling thing he had ever done.  Yet, it had not been a total waste of time.  It had been a good opportunity to convince McPherson that Squall truly hated Seifer.  Hopefully this would prevent McPherson from being suspicious of the planned rescue.

                Thinking of the rescue reminded Squall that he had not yet formulated a decent plan.  Getting into the cell shouldn't be a problem, the lock was really only strong enough to hold a person as weak as Seifer was.  But, what to do once he got Seifer out of the cell?  Where to take him?  Seifer would not be accepted everywhere and he needed peace and quiet in order to heal.  Going to his father was out of the question; at least half of the people in Esthar still hated Seifer.  Back to Garden?  Having his friends around would be of great help and comfort; yet, there were still some people who hated Seifer even there.  Plus, Squall suddenly realized, it would probably be extremely humiliating for Seifer if his former classmates saw the condition he was in now.  So, Garden was out of the question, Squall refused to take Seifer someplace where he would only suffer more.  But, where to go then?

                The orphanage!  Why hadn't he thought of it before?  It was such an obvious answer.  Now that Matron had fixed it up, it was perfectly habitable and an ideal place for Seifer to recover.  Now all he needed was a way to get there.

                Finding his cell phone, Squall called Quistis.

                "Balamb Garden.  Quistis Trepe speaking.  How may I help you?

                "Hey, Quist.  It's Squall."

                "Squall!  It's about time you called us, we haven't heard from you since you left here.  We were beginning to worry."

                "Sorry.  My dad can be rather demanding when it comes to spending time with him.  And for the past several days I've been on a mission."

                "A mission?" came a very shocked response.  "Squall, you're supposed to be on vacation!  Why are you on a mission?"

                "I offered to go for my dad.  It gave me a good reason to get out into the countryside and look for Seifer.  And I found him."

                "You did?  Oh Hyne!  Squall, this is great!  Where was he?  Is he OK?  He's not hurt is he?  When can we see him?"

                Sighing, Squall wished he didn't have to tell Quistis about Seifer's condition; he knew it was really going to upset her.  Yet, it would be better to tell her now than have her see Seifer with no prior knowledge of how terrible his condition was.

                "It's a pretty bad situation, Quistis.  He's being held prisoner in a small town in southeastern Esthar.  They haven't treated him too well; when I saw him he was barely conscious.  Also, he's…he's blind, Quistis."

                Silence.

                "Quistis?"

                "I…you…blind?!  I…I can't believe it!  Seifer can't see?  No.  That's not possible.  There must be some mistake!"

                "No mistake.  He most definitely can't see."

                "Oh, Squall!  This is so awful!  He must be suffering so much.  Seifer doesn't deserve this; he's been through so much already.  But how could it have happened?  Did the townspeople do it?"

                "I don't think they did.  So, I have no idea how it happened.  Hopefully Seifer will be able to tell us and maybe we can find a way to get his sight back."

                "Yes.  There had to be a way to cure it.  But you must get him out of there, Squall!"

                "Of course I'm going to rescue him!  Tonight.  And I need your help.  It should be easy enough getting him out of town but I want to take him to the orphanage and I need a way to get there."

"We can come get you with the Ragnarok."

                'Yes, that's what I was thinking.  Bring one of the guys with you.  I'll need someone to help me support Seifer; dunno how long I'll be able to do it by myself."

                "You mean they've hurt him so badly that he can't walk by himself?"

                "Yes, they have.  But, remember, Quistis?  He's blind, he'll need me to guide him."

                "Oh, I had forgotten, sorta.  It's just…it's so hard to believe it, that Seifer can't see at all."

                "I know but you'll see it's true once you get here."

"All right, tell me where you are and when you want us to get there."

Squall gave her the appropriate coordinates that would land the Ragnarok about half a mile out of town and told her what time to be there.

                "Oh, one more thing, Quistis.  I don't think Rinoa should know what's going on.  I'm not sure what her reaction would be; you know she's still rather resentful about what Seifer did to her."

                "Yeah, you're right.  We'll try to get out of here without her knowing it.  Might be difficult though."

                "Yeah, I know.  Just do your best.  I'm sure you'll manage it."

                "Thanks.  Good luck, Squall, and be careful, OK?"

                "Yeah, no problem.  C-ya later."

                Hanging up the phone, Squall got off the bed and began packing up all of his things.  Once that was done, he started sharpening his gunblade.  It was probably on unnecessary task but it was better to be safe than sorry.  That done, Squall considered whether or not he should call his father.  Squall eventually decided not to, he was not in the mood to deal with an emotionally distraught father when he had so much to worry about.

                And he was worrying, quite a bit.  He couldn't help it, there was just too much at stack here.  McPherson worried him the most.  Even though the man probably had no idea that Squall was going to rescue Seifer, it was always possible that McPherson might catch Squall.  This was Squall's greatest worry, that he might run into McPherson while getting Seifer out of the cell.

                No sense in dwelling on it so much though since he couldn't really do anything about it now.  Instead, Squall decided to get a few hours of sleep, he needed to be well rested in order to survive what he knew was going to be a very long night.

End Part 4

-Not too happy with the way this turned out, not as dark or as depressing as I wanted it to be, guess I'm just not good at writing that kind of stuff, oh well!  Hope you enjoyed it


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